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AISI Disappointed by Stance on China as Currency Manipulator
Oct. 20, 2009 American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson issued a statement reacting to the Obama Administration’s recent decision not to name China a currency manipulator in the Treasury Department’s semiannual report.
“While AISI appreciates some of the steps that the Obama Administration has taken in terms of dealing with China trade issues, we are disappointed that it has decided, once again, not to name China a currency manipulator in the Treasury Department’s semiannual report. We believe that the facts call for a different finding, given the massive damage that China’s severely undervalued currency has done to U.S. manufacturing companies, their employees, and their communities,” Gibson said in the statement.
The Institute testified this month about the need to address this issue before the United States Trade Representative’s Trade Policy Staff Committee. “We have been on record urging more aggressive action on this anti-competitive practice, but it is now more urgent than ever that Congress pass promptly, and that the Obama Administration support, a trade law remedy fix to this problem of currency manipulation, which has contributed to the current U.S. trade deficit and allows China to undercut U.S. trade,” he concluded.
AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the material of choice. AISI plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. The Institute comprises 24 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 138 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry.